


Keeping Warm

by cloudyworld



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-02
Updated: 2013-01-02
Packaged: 2017-11-23 09:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/620781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyworld/pseuds/cloudyworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A snowstorm is coming, so Michael prepares. Rabbit, remembering the young men he'd been with in the war and what happened to them when winter came, tries to help. Slight Michael/Rabbit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keeping Warm

**Author's Note:**

> for Emily. ♥♥♥

"It's snowing." 

Rabbit turns to focus his photoreceptors on Michael when he speaks, watching him pull back the curtain and study the white flakes that are sticking to the windowsill. 

"Do you like the snow, mister Reed?" The Jon asks from where he's sprawled out on the floor of the living room, covered in butcher paper and crayons. He tilts his head back and squints. 

"I like it well enough," Michael replies, glancing over at the gold robot and his drawings. "I'll have to remember to turn on the heat tonight, though, since it will make the house cold." 

"You don't have to worry about us, mister Reed," The Jon points out. "We won't feel it."

"You're gonna feel it if you go outside to play in the snow and it gets between your joints. You won't like the way it feels if you come back inside to a cold house and it's still in there, trust me," he explains with ease, looking over at Rabbit instead, who smiles in return. 

"Trust me too, The Jon; being a snowman might sound pretty cool at first, and it is cool. But not in t-the good way," Rabbit adds, sagely. 

The Jon blinks, but nods, scribbling absent-mindedly with a crayon. After a moment he stops, looking down, then back up quickly. 

"Wait, I can still play in it, right? What's the point of the snow if I can't go sledding, or have a snowball fight?" he asks, urgent. 

"You can go play in it as long as you put on a jacket," MIchael laughs, stepping away from the window. "But you might want to do it soon, there's supposed to be a storm tonight." 

"A s-storm?" Rabbit interjects, meeting Michael's eyes as he rejoins the copper robot on the couch. 

"Yeah, a big snowstorm. We're supposed to get a couple feet of snow, at least. I'm going out to get anything we might need soon in case the power goes out. Do you want to come?" 

"Yes, yes, I do. We should get firewood...a-and matches. And maybe food, for you? In cans?" Rabbit suggests, standing. 

"We've got enough emergency food to last me years, don't worry. Though firewood's not a bad idea. And we should check the workshop. Just in case we get snowed in." 

The Jon rolls over and shoots up, mouth hanging open. "Snowed in?" Michael shrugs. 

"It could happen. We should be prepared for anything." 

"I'll make a list, then!" Rabbit announces, quickly bounding out of the room, The Jon scrambling to get up and chase him. 

 

They drive mostly in silence to the store, Rabbit clutching a list he has jotted down, watching the snow fly by as they drive. 

"Turning the heat on, that's for you, isn't it?" he asks suddenly, quietly. It takes Michael a moment to respond. Rabbit thinks he might be a little embarrassed. 

"Oh, yeah. I get cold a lot faster than you guys do. I might have to dig out some extra blankets for my bed." 

"I could keep you warm," Rabbit blurts out. Michael looks confused. "If it would help, I could stay with you tonight. My body gives off heat pretty well, and our body temperatures run higher than a human's does."

"I know," Michael cuts in, a faint smile curling his mouth. Of course he knows, he's the one that fixes them when they are broken and studies their pieces and parts all night until he cannot stay awake any longer. Rabbit waits for an answer, but when Michael says nothing, he continues.

"Would that be all right? Would that help you, Mister Reed?" 

"Do you even know what you're asking me, Rabbit?" Michael wonders aloud, breathing out a wry laugh. The word rhetorical crosses Rabbit's thoughts, and he wonders if this is one of those times. 

He is silent for the rest of the trip.

When they return, they find The Jon running across the front yard, singing something nonsensical as he collects the newly fallen snow to stack it on top of The Spine, who is sitting on the front steps, scowling. 

 

For the rest of the day, Michael performs routine check ups on all three of the Walter robots, making sure they don't need any particular attention as the snow begins to gather in thick drifts outside the house. The Jon of course had collected some snow in some odd places, so Michael and Rabbit work to carefully dig it out of him, ignoring The Jon's whines of how 'not fun' this snow had become. Rabbit can certainly feel the snow that touches his hands, soft and light and melting into water that slides down his fingertips. But it doesn't feel cold, exactly. Not like he's sure Michael feels it through the gloves he's wearing, so cold it turns human skin pink and numb. 

Rabbit remembers all the winters he spent at war, watching the humans around him pull their meager coats tighter around their bodies, sticking extra socks everywhere they would fit. They hid in foxholes, draped in blankets and shivering, unable to sleep because of the cold. Some men got very sick because of it, others even died. He read somewhere that a human's body temperature drops when they sleep, so the men that he was in the foxhole with were particularly lucky; not only did Rabbit not need to sleep, but he was a source of heat, as well. He remembers men holding blue hands to his face, waiting for the steam to escape and heat their hands just enough. War was always bad, but war during the winter was the worst. 

"Rabbit?" Rabbit twitches, finding Michael's face as the memories disappear. 

"Y-yes?"

"You're dripping all over the ground." The mechanic steps over to him, dabbing a towel at his hands. 

"Thanks mister Reed." Michael just nods, turning back to help The Jon off the table. 

 

The halls of the manor are quiet after dark, so much so that Rabbit is able to hear the sound of the wind whipping against the house. He walks down the dimly lit hallways, peeking in to each room to make sure the windows are all shut and the curtains closed, to keep the heat in. For Michael's sake. 

He comes upon Michael's room, and the door is cracked open just enough for Rabbit to see Michael's back, the man bent over the bed as he seems to be getting changed. Rabbit tries to stifle the sounds of his gears as he steps closer, watching the muscles in Michael's back shift and stretch as he puts a different shirt on. Right as he tugs it over his head, the lights above him flicker three times before going out completely. Michael curses quietly, as Rabbit quickly whips around before Michael can catch the blue and green glow of his photoreceptors in the darkness and discover him. 

Beginning the slow descent down the hallway, Rabbit's escape comes to an unfortunate halt when Michael calls his name. 

Dejected and embarrassed, he returns to the threshold of Michael's bedroom door. 

"Yes, mister Reed?" Rabbit offers, waiting for a chastising remark. Instead, Michael waves his hand to allow the robot into the room, an amused smirk placed firmly on his face. 

"You really won't leave me alone about this, will you? I'd expect this kind of behavior from The Jon, not from--"

"If you don't want me to help you, I understand and-and I will leave you alone, mister Reed, just let me know," Rabbit interrupts, trying not to look as disappointed as he feels. He just wanted to help; that's all he was good at, really. Fighting wars for the good of the humans, finding any way to keep the humans alive, entertaining the humans with the band. He just wanted to help Michael like he helped those young men in the foxholes beside him, shivering down to their bones. 

Michael studies the robot for a good long while in the dark, his expression unchanging. Finally, he moves towards the bed, pulling back all the covers and reorganizing the pillows. 

"Well, the power's out now," he muses, tossing a couple pillows to the floor. I might as well take advantage of the next best thing." Rabbit jumps, taking a couple steps closer, hopeful.

"You-you mean?" 

"Yes. Now come here before I change my mind." Grinning, Rabbit crosses the floor to climb into the bed, joints creaking as he lifts himself up onto the mattress to join the human. Carefully, he eases down into the bed next to Michael, opening his arms, and letting Michael place a pillow on top of one of his arms before settling down next to Rabbit, breathing out a content sigh as he already feels the warmth generated by the steam powered robot that now held him. 

"Thank you, mister Reed," Rabbit hummed, unable to wipe the smile off of his face. Michael laughed, tapping his hand against the warm copper chest plate. 

"Just don't tell The Jon, or he'll try to be in here every night." 

Rabbit promises he won't. It would be their secret. 

 

When Rabbit blinks back to awareness, it's morning and Michael's standing at the window of his room, wrapped up in one of the blankets from the bed, his hair a tangled mess. Light pours in from the uncovered window, the reflection of the snow painting Michael's room a bright white.

"I think we're snowed in," he whispers, motioning with a tilt of his head to the window, eyes lit up in a tired but twinkling smile. Rabbit couldn't help his returning smile, the gears and core inside him buzzing with warmth.


End file.
